System requirements

[Fryer Mike]

Hi, I'm not new to KSP. I've been playing the same since .23 on and off, but I've never had my own reliable computer to game with.

I try to read up about computer specs and whatnot but I can't seem to wrap my head around most of it. Basically, I'm just wondering if a computer I'm looking at wold be able to run KSP smoothly. 

Here are the specs to the best of my knowledge: 

Intel 1.8 GHz Dual Core 
2 GB RAM 
150 GB HArd Drive 
256 MB Integrated GPU

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Gaarst]

You will probably be able to run KSP. I doubt you'll get any further than the main menu though. And don't even expect to launch a largeish craft with more than 10fps.

This config is very low, unless this computer costs £$€whatevercurrency20 or is 10 y.o. you'd be better off with pretty much anything else.

For KSP, you want high single-thread CPU performance (having a high clock frequency is a good start, 1.8GHz is very low for KSP).
32-bit KSP cannot use more than 4GB of RAM, but your computer OS and other processes will use some RAM, so 6GB is good; 4GB might be enough if you're not that concerned by performance and mods.
And even though KSP doesn't use a lot of GPU, 256MB is not a lot, I'm not sure what performance that will give you or the impact on overall speed but my previous laptop had 512MB which seemed to be enough (the performance was limited by my CPU though.

If you want to see what other people use to play KSP, I suggest to take a look at this thread.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Gaarst

[logan2611]

Honestly I don't think KSP will run very well on 2GB of RAM

It will probably be hard to get the game above 10 fps

[Fryer Mike]

Thanks. Honestly this stuff gives me a headache. I'm looking on Kijiji for a used desktop computer, as my funds don't currently allow me to spend too much on something like this. 

So this computer is a no go obviously. Are there any stock computers which work well for KSP? The base line seems to be around 700 dollars for something new. 

 

http://www.staples.ca/en/HP-Compaq-Refurbished-Desktop-DC7800-SFF-Intel-Core2-Duo-4GB-RAM-320GB-HDD-DVD-Burner-Win-7-Pro-64-bit-English/product_1569876_2-CA_1_20001

??

 

Edited February 9, 2016 by Fryer Mike

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I don't recommend or endorse any of these machines officially, but here are more options http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100019096%204016%20600014730

[sumghai]

Looking at the official system requirements:

- 2GB of RAM is nowhere near enough to run the game; you will need at least 4GB properly load all stock game assets, plus a small selection of any third-party mods you may want to use.

- Personally, I'd recommend at least 8~16GB of RAM; even though KSP 1.0.5 can only utilize up to 3.5GB of total available system RAM, you should keep a healthy overhead for the operating system, background services and any other programs running concurrently (e.g. web browsers, media players).

- As a game based on the Unity engine, KSP's Physx physics implementation relies mainly on your processor, and a better CPU would allow higher framerates for larger vessels. Again, 1.8GHz is just shy of the minimum 2GHz, and I'd aim for something above 2.2GHz instead.

[Speadge]

as the 1.1 update is near now, i assume you might go best with 16gb ram & intel quadcore (i5; at least 2.4-3ghz).

SSD (256) might be nice to reduce loading time with the tons of mods u might want to add.

Graphics isnt that important like in the AAA-games.. but 1gb vram should be the minimum.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by Speadge

[Fryer Mike]

19 hours ago, Waxing_Kibbous said:

I don't recommend or endorse any of these machines officially, but here are more options http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100019096%204016%20600014730

Thanks for that! There are some pretty decent deals on there.

Speadge, is 16 gb RAM reall that necessary? That seems like a lot. 

[RizzoTheRat]

I'm running several mods on an 8GB i7-4600U laptop, and have started to get some crashes to desktop that I never had when I was running fewer mods, so 8GB should be fine for an un- or lightly modified game.  The new engine in version 1.1 should allow it to use multiple cores, but I wouldn't expect it to need much more memory.  

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I just want to add that I play on 64 bit Linux and have had games where I've had a fair amount of mods with no issues, not even coming close to my 8GB limit- I think it was probably around 4GB with a browser and email client open on the side. Right now with 19 mods KSP is using 1.9GB, but I have no planet packs or super heavy parts packs either. Depends on the mods and OS tho I suppose... I will never argue with future proofing, in fact it's a smart idea, but in my experience 8GB is plenty (the only time I ever exceeded it was on purpose, subdividing a mesh in Blender to see how far I could push my system).

If cash is an issue, personally I'd stick with 8GB and find a system with a dedicated Nvidia gfx card.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Waxing_Kibbous

[reconwarrior21]

I used to play KSP (.18 or something like that) On a computer with roughly those specs. It's doable, but you'd be looking at less than 20 FPS, semi frequent crashes, and the inability to launch any sort of sizable craft. But that was a much older version, and they're working on moving to a different engine (I think that's whats going on at least). I only use laptops, so I can't speak for desktop machines, but don't discount the newer Intel integrated graphics. With decent RAM, and a semi capable CPU you can run KSP (And most other things) just fine with them.

[sal_vager]

Those specs seem rather low to me.

Quote

Intel 1.8 GHz Dual Core 

KSP is a CPU intensive game because the Unity 4 engine can only run the physics in a single process.

KSP 1.1 will use Unity 5 and a newer version of Nvidia's PhysX, which is fully multi-threaded and has other performance improvements.
 

Quote

2 GB RAM 

While this is enough to run an unmodded KSP on a light weight operating system with no other programs running, it's not really enough if you decide to use addons, or if you're using Windows 10 (Likely on a new machine) or if you want to browse the net while you play.

KSP 1.0.5 on Windows is 32bit only so it can't use more than 3.5 gigs unless you use the community hack or switch to Linux.

But with KSP 1.1 being 64bit on Windows as well I'd seriously consider more memory, 64bit applications will use more RAM than their 32bit counterparts doing the same tasks, plus the more memory you have the less chance there will be that the OS will have to cache to the hard drive, which seriously slows things down.

I'd go for a minimum of 4, and for 8 if you can afford it.

Quote

150 GB HArd Drive 

I have a laptop with 100 gigs hard drive space and I store stuff on an external drive so this really shouldn't be a problem.

Quote

256 MB Integrated GPU

Nope, while KSP is CPU intensive it still works better with a decent graphics card with a gig or more of its own RAM, not shared with the operating system which I suspect the laptop you're looking at does, leaving you even less RAM for gaming and definitely not enough for KSP.

I suggest you look for a laptop with a built in Nvidia graphics card that has its own RAM separate to the system RAM, or one with a high-end Intel card, but again with dedicated RAM.

AMD is probably fine on Windows, but their Linux driver performance is still poor.

 

Hope this helps.

[zKrieg]

Your system will not run KSP. The cpu and ram are far below the minimum requirements. Even if you could get it to work it won't be an enjoyable experience in any sense.

Your best bet would be to try the demo.

Edited February 12, 2016 by zKrieg

[Labaton]

I'm running ksp on a 2013 MacBook air

 

1.7ghz i7

8gb DDR3 Ram

Intel HD 5000

Runs great until I start building big things..... or installing loads of mods.... currently looking for a PC so that I can try RSS

 

 

[NightshineRecorralis]

On 2/3/2017 at 7:58 AM, Labaton said:

snip

 

Oh dear, this thread is old.

On the other hand, if you are looking to find a laptop that runs "well" in KSP, you should be prepared to either shell out big bucks or turn down the graphics. Unless you decide to put graphical mods in, any laptop with an i3, i5, or i7 that is not a mobile chip will work fine. For graphics, I'd recommend a 720m or above on nvidia's side. Just look at the number, the larger, the better. an 820m will outperform a 720m, and a 950m will be better than either, though at a price premium.